Rudy Giuliani and Jack Posobiec Claim a False Flag

Yesterday, the FBI arrested John Sullivan, one of the guys who took video showing Ashli Babbitt’s shooting in the January 6 insurrection. As the arrest affidavit describes, in an interview the day after the riot, Sullivan claimed he had been acting as a journalist at the riot.

SULLIVAN claimed to be an activist and journalist that filmed protests and riots, but admitted that he did not have any press credentials.

[snip]

23. At various times in his statements to law enforcement, to others inside the U.S. Capitol that were recorded in his video, and to news outlets, SULLIVAN has claimed he was at the U.S. Capitol only to document and report. In addition, your affiant is aware that, at various times, SULLIVAN has claimed to be a journalist. He has admitted, however, that he has no press credentials and the investigation has not revealed any connection between SULLIVAN and any journalistic organizations.

The affidavit describes that, at some protest in DC, Sullivan made anti-Trump comments.

The United States obtained a video of SULLIVAN, posted on YouTube, in which, while attending a protest in Washington, D.C., SULLIVAN can be seen telling a crowd, over a microphone, “we about to burn this shit down,” “we got to rip Trump out of office . . . fucking pull him out of that shit . . . we ain’t waiting until the next election . . . we about to go get that motherfucker.” SULLIVAN then can be seen leading the crowd in a chant of, “it’s time for a revolution.”1

But it quotes from a video he shared with the FBI repeatedly speaking of “we,” including himself in the mob. On several occasions, Sullivan convinced police to stand down (including in front of the Speaker’s Lobby, just before Babbitt was shot). And it provides evidence that Sullivan broke a window in one of the offices.

h. At one point in the video, SULLIVAN enters an office within the U.S. Capitol, as seen in the screenshot below. Once inside the office, SULLIVAN approaches a window, also seen in the screenshot below, and states, “We did this shit. We took this shit.”

i. While at the window, a knocking noise is heard off-screen. The camera then pans to show more of the window and a broken pane can be seen that was not broken on SULLIVAN’s approach to the window:

SULLIVAN can then be heard saying, “I broke it. My bad, my apologies. Well they already broke a window, so, you know, I didn’t know I hit it that hard. No one got that on camera.” SULLIVAN then exits the office.

Sullivan is charged with violent entry of Congress and impeding police officers during a civil disorder. He is not charged with breaking the window.

Even before his arrest, left wing activists had described concerns in that community, going back some time, that Sullivan was a provocateur working with others, including his brother James, who has ties to the Proud Boys and runs a pro-Trump organization.

But shortly after Sullivan’s arrest was reported, right wing propagandist Jack Posobiec pounced on his arrest, claiming it showed that BLM was behind the attacks and and that Sullivan’s actions led to Babbitt’s death (remember these screen caps have GMT, so subtract 5 for ET).

Then, in the middle of the night Rudy’s time, he posted a text from what appears to be John’s brother James.

Rudy presents this as proof that the riot was conducted by Antifa. But it instead seems to show that John’s brother (the phone number is in Utah, where they’re from) claimed to be, “working with the FBI,” had gotten his “agent” and three others out of trouble (Rudy did not show when he received this text, so it may have predated John’s arrest). It also showed that Sullivan seemed to have ties with someone named Kash, who might be Patel, the Devin Nunes flunky who got installed as DOD’s Chief of Staff. Patel would likely have had a key role in ensuring the National Guard delayed any response to the riot last week.

A Nazi sympathizer and the President’s lawyer seemed prepared to speak from the script that Donald Trump seems to have written the day before the riot, when he moved towards naming Antifa a terrorist organization. The OANN propagandist and chief purveyor of fraudulent claims about the election are attempting to use the arrest of John Sullivan to claim that their own people did not plan out this coup attempt.

In the process, however, Rudy Giuliani may have tied the President and the Proud Boys, and the Pentagon together in the plot. And Rudy’s calls to Tommy Tuberville after people had already died, that ties people n Congress to the attempts to assassinate members of Congress.

Update: I’ve been persuaded that “Kash” is someone else who was detained after the raid, so deleted references to Kash Patel. That person, Kash Kelly, is probably a convicted gang member awaiting his sentencing.

Update: Corrected that the anti-Trump comments may not have been at this protest.

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173 replies
  1. Barb says:

    I’m trying to figure out just who this John Sullivan kid is, which side he’s really on. Earlier tonight I had read that Nov. 2020 thread you link to
    https://twitter.com/RebellionBaby/status/1331902008765206528?s=20
    and then listened to Katie Halper and Max Blumenthal here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAFx8OyCX1g&feature=youtu.be explain how they understood things to be, and I’m still confused.

    Allegedly Sullivan and his videographer friend were working on a documentary? I want to know who funded them.

    • subtropolis says:

      He seems like a nihilist shit-disturber to me, and one of reasons why the Right can so easily find bad things to attribute to BLM. (That, and a complicit propaganda machine that doesn’t worry itself about relying on even a hint of truth in building up its lies, of course.)

    • thomasa says:

      Seattle independent news person Geov Parrish reports on the 15th:
      [My apologies for not usine block quotes, as I don’t know how. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.]
      “The right wing is still trying to pin the Coup Klux Klan insurgency at the US Capitol last week on antifa – and there’s a Seattle connection.
      Meet John Sullivan – aka “Activist John,” aka “Jayden X” – who was a fixture at Seattle BLM protests last summer/fall before being frozen out as a suspected RW infiltrator or agent provocateur. He’s also been kicked out of BLM communities in Portland, Los Angeles, Utah, New York City, and Washington DC – at least. And last Wednesday, he was an enthusiastic participant in the pro-Trump crowd’s trashing of the Capitol – who happened to film the Capitol Police shooting of QAnon believer Ashli Babbitt as she tried to break into the House chamber, footage shown widely across mainstream networks. Since then, Trump’s supporters – including Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alpha Centauri) and Rudy Giuliani, have used John’s presence at the Capitol as their “proof” that the whole thing Jan. 6 was led by antifa.”

      He goes on with his Facebook feed to detail much of what the Intercept has reported on regarding his brother.

      “The Intercept has already done this deep dive on John. Seattle’s @RebellionBaby also has helpful context on a long-ass thread yesterday. So who, or what, the fk is John? And this should be a helpful reminder for activists: Be very careful. At protests and online, everyone isn’t who they say they are.”
      https://the intercept.com/…/capitol-riot-john…/…

      It has long been my opinion that much of the property damage done during demonstrations is the work of agents provocateur. I witnessed such during the Battle of Seattle in 1999. There was great deal more than just the Black Block from Eugene at work then, as window breakers melted into a phalanx of cops who closed ranks behind them when chased by otherwise peaceful Teamsters.

  2. Spencer Dawkins says:

    This guy is doing a lot of “journalism” that wasn’t covered in MY high school journalism class.

    Should I have paid more attention in my class? Sure. Do I think “journalism” has changed this much? Nope. No, I don’t.

  3. Montana Voter says:

    This line of attack is classic tactical operations. It shows clearly that there is a very well organized and well funded core group that has thought this out over a significant length of time. They have preyed on the fringe disaffected people who jump on the pedophile at the pizza place to be their blunt weapon and as patsies to take the fall. Hopefully, their hubris will allow the agencies to bring them to justice.
    They are counting on the media to rush after the next issue to drive the news cycle and let them get to their “after-action” report analysis and planning for the next round.
    What is really needed is a dedicated pursuit of their leaders as was done by Wiesenthal with the Nazis and the Israelis after the Munich Olympics attack. The question is whether or not we have the will and can overcome the politicians and billions behind this plot.

  4. Peterr says:

    When the FBI comes to talk with Kash Patel, I think he will have even more trouble than Michael Flynn with keeping his story straight — unless he recognizes that there’s a very strong incentive to be the first conspirator to cooperate with investigators and prosecutors.

    Rudy is creating more problems for himself, though. At best, this kind of link will require that he get a really huge pardon, but such a pardon might increase Trump’s own exposure to prosecution for conspiracy. At worst (from Rudy’s POV), Trump may decide he’d be happy with Rudy getting roped into all of this. He didn’t want to pay Rudy cash for his services before all this went down, and watching Rudy crash and burn might appeal to Trump’s twisted sense of justice in a kind of “You didn’t defend me well enough, so why should I defend you?” way.

    • Rugger9 says:

      The problem for DJT is that Rudy will talk when cornered into it, like his refusals to claim voter fraud when asked by courts. By then, DJT will no longer be in any position to stop Rudy from singing.

      • Vicks says:

        It’s not like Trump’s threat to our national security hasn’t been discussed a thousand times already but I get the sense Rudy may have gotten got in over his head and exposed not just himself, but the President of the United States to whatever the bad guys do when the have someone useful by the balls.
        Not to be overly dramatic but these could be things that can’t be wiped away by a pardon or fleeing to a country without an extradition agreement.
        Trump, Rudy and others are acting as if their lives, not just their political futures depended on Trump remaining in power.

        • P J Evans says:

          I get the impression that Rudy (and his buddies like Posobiec) are considerably less bright than they believe they are. They don’t seem to be able to think ahead.

          • e.a.f. says:

            they couldn’t think ahead in terms of “if they lost”. these people did not have a plan B. They were stupid. They never thought they could loose. That is always bad. You need to plan ahead just in case……

        • earthworm says:

          yes, vicks, this has been on my radar for a while. the element of desperation in all this seems beyond mere financial survival.

      • skua says:

        If the Borat underage bed scene was just an incomplete variant of Rudi’s bedroom activities with Russian children and Putin has the video then Rudi will be talking but it won’t be the whole truth.

      • BraveNewWorld says:

        >”The problem for DJT is that Rudy will talk when cornered into it”
        Actually the problem for DJT is that DJT will talk when cornered into it

    • PeterS says:

      In defence of Kash, there was this headline on the BBC News website:

      “Capitol siege: Trump’s words ‘directly led’ to violence, Patel says.”

      (OK, just kidding, it was Priti not Kash)

    • harpie says:

      Marcy updated on this “Kash”:

      Update: I’ve been persuaded that “Kash” is someone else who was detained after the raid, so deleted references to Kash Patel.

      • subtropolis says:

        Although he is not THAT Kash, I do believe that both he and Ezra Cohen-Watnick — both Nunes minions — ought to be looked at very closely wrt this attempted coup.

        I cannot help but wonder whether that Medal of Freedom for Nunes was meant to stiffen his wobbly legs as the day approached. I don’t care to go all ct but this was an attempted coup, after all. There are others involved. Somebody had to ensure that security was just about nowhere to be found that day. The people who 45 rushed into position at the Pentagon are suspect, imho.

        • FL Resister says:

          Trump cannot claim plausible deniability about any of this.
          And this is a whopper. Every day more is revealed, raising more questions.

          What have Bannon and Trump been talking about (besides Bannon’s pardon)? https://www.emptywheel.net/2020/12/11/steve-bannon-hires-a-pardon-broker-and-rudy-giuliani-lawyer-to-replace-his-competent-lawyer/

          The Insurrection was announced by Trump and planned well in advance. The threat was obvious and several data points show that the response was intentionally quashed in preparations and then stalled during the event.
          Were General Flynn and the Blackwater Special Ops guy Erik Prince in on some of Trump’s “many calls and many meetings”?

          I am looking forward to Marcy snooping through the documents and deciphering what comes out of the investigations.

    • Chris.EL says:

      [Reports say Bannon is back chatting with Trump again…]

      From Twitter:

      “Peter Strzok @petestrzok”
      1/15/2021 ~10:40 ET

      “Flynn & Stone–both pardoned for their convictions related to Russia’s electoral assistance to Trump–promoted events leading to the Jan 6 insurrection against his electoral defeat.

      Just 3 months ago, current prosecutors advocated dropping Flynn’s charges.”
      ~~~~~~
      (Link to ABC story)

      “Longtime Trump advisers connected to groups behind rally that led to Capitol attack

      Roger Stone, Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn all promoted the Jan. 6 rally.

      By Will Steakin, Matthew Mosk, James Gordon Meek and Ali Dukakis ” …

      • harpie says:

        Thanks for flagging that, Chris!
        Here’s the link to Strzok’s tweet:
        https://twitter.com/petestrzok/status/1350106213661421574
        10:42 AM · Jan 15, 2021

        From the ABC story:

        Three of the key advisers who helped engineer Donald Trump’s’ rise to the presidency in 2016, and who fell from grace under the weight of federal criminal charges, resurfaced during Trump’s final days in office to help engineer his ill-fated attempt to cling to power.

        Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn all participated in efforts to promote the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” event that ultimately devolved into a riotous and deadly melee at the United States Capitol, leaving five dead and causing Trump to become the only president to be impeached for a second time. […]

        • subtropolis says:

          Stone is good friends with the Loud Boys, also. (Whose not-the-leader leader, Gavin MacInnes, was spotted in the crowd on the 6th giving orders to his troops.)

          I wonder whether the Mercers were involved in some way, also.

          • fm says:

            I have read the Mercers are large financiers for the now dead “Parler” website. That site is going to create a lot of problems for Trump supporters who may have broken the law. Read article at gizmodo website on hacker who downloaded the metadata right before it went offline, data recovered includes gps coordinates of people at Capital assault, deleted postings and much more.

        • J R in WV says:

          I would like to point out that I have said many times that a Presidential Pardon to most of the Trump hangers on, as well as Trump himself, as as useless as tits on a boar hog, because these pardons only work back in time. They don’t apply to crimes committed after the date of a specific pardon at all.

          Which means that once pardoned, a person must stop committing crimes for that pardon to do them any good.

          Here we have three long-term “fixers” for Trump, all pardoned for lots of crimes committed in Trump’s name before their pardons were granted, who have now involved themselves in Insurrection against a lawfully elected government on the US. Certainly another set of major crimes for the boys, not covered by their previous pardons. And perhaps Trump himself is now guilty of conspiracy to commit Insurrection, which could put him in serious legal condition himself, the minute noon on January 20th slides into the past, next week.

          Will that conspiracy be all over and done with by the last moment Trump can pardon himself? Or does the conspiracy continue into the future past that moment? If I were a prosecutor looking for an opportunity to be an historic figure, I might spend some time on that.

          I know bmaz spends a lot of time telling commenters there can’t be treason without a declared war. I wonder if he’s studied Insurrection and deadly violence right inside the seat of the US Government and how that might apply to treason? They (the rioters and Insurrectionists, if I’m not being redundant there) certainly intended to use violence to overthrow our duly and legally elected government! Only a great deal of luck and some very brave security staff kept those murderous fools from killing a majority of those in the presidential line of succession, leaders of the legislative branch of our government!

          • bmaz says:

            Yes, I have “studied” this and it is NOT FUCKING TREASON. For the love of anything you hold holy stop this shit.

  5. OldTulsaDude says:

    One would think that anyone who has spent time around Donald Trump has learned the effectiveness of accusing the opposition of committing the crimes of which you are guilty. With that as basis, my guess is that Sullivan is a right-wing plant sent to facilitate a false flag claim.

    • Rugger9 says:

      An agent provocateur is my thinking as well, and it’s an old fascist playbook option back to the Reichstag fire and the invasion of Poland. Plus, it’s one out of thousands.

      On Boebert, Brooks, Greene, Hawley, et al I wonder just how much Congressional immunity does cover, looking back to how Aaron Burr was prevented from being prosecuted for dueling and killing Alexander Hamilton as long as he remained in DC. I would expect the Sedition Caucus would argue that applies to them, but it would appear to me that the Speech and Debate Clause limits the scope of immunity. Congresscritters have been arrested before (i.e. William Jefferson in LA for “cold cash”, Duncan Hunter more recently, among many others over the years) so is there anything to prevent the GOP collaborators being arrested and charged?

      • madwand says:

        I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an antifa or two or more imbedded in this insurrection. That’s exactly what happens in BLM protests when white agents provocateurs imbed themselves in those protests and then are caught on camera smashing windows or something. I wouldn’t also be surprised if they were exercising their phone cameras well and many of the pics they took have been turned into the FBI.

        Just a thought.

        • Ravenclaw says:

          I think you’re conflating two distinct types of embed – not “exactly” the same, anyhow. You can have representatives of your group present during an event to take observations (and maybe get video). You can also have agents provocateur placed there to create disturbances as if they are part of the group holding the demonstration, making them look worse than they are. The folks smashing windows and what-not at BLM protests were the latter. I’ve seen no evidence (unless you count this Sullivan joker) of anything like real agents provocateur at the Capitol insurrection. To the contrary: the ones engaging in the most flagrant violence and the ones engaging in the most sinister behind-the-scenes action were all right-wing extremists and T**** supporters.

          • madwand says:

            Hey and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were undercover FBI or ATF agents imbedded in the crowd also.

      • BobCon says:

        Is it possible to avoid using terms like “congresscritters”? It’s term that is grating in the same way that things like “Drumpf” and “Cheeto” quite rightly grate on Bmaz.

        There is a long unfortunate tendency in the press and popular culture to lump all of Congress together in vapid snarky ways. It’s Jay Leno stuff. And I think terms like congresscritters quickly bleed into that. At a minimum it’s a diminutive that diminishes a lot in a broad stroke.

        Which is wildly unfair to a lot of reps like Jaime Raskin who was drafting an impeachment measure while the mob was still swirling. I think it’s still fine to lower the boom on particular reps and senators who deserve it, and saying “ambulatory vial of pus and bile Josh Hawley” or “ally of Ted Cruz” is still appropriate.

    • pseudonymous in nc says:

      My guess is agent provocateur too, adjacent to the Boogaloo “impatient prepper” mentality. And you don’t have to be a believer to be a provocateur.

      (And anything that Posobiec touches, of course, is suspect in the same way.)

    • subtropolis says:

      I’m not convinced that they’d thought about this that long in advance to sheepdip him during the BLM protests. More likely, I think, he’d joined those protests for the same reason as those who took advantage of them to destroy shit.

  6. Mike says:

    Do you think Rudi might actually be in play? He is such a loose cannon there is no telling what else he might give up inadvertently.

  7. RMD says:

    I suspect the Insurrectionist’s Playbook covers how to create scenarios for plausible deniability.

    Step 1: find a patsy
    Step 2: blame the patsy
    Step 3: celebrate your awesome cunning

  8. Don Midwest says:

    Max Blumenthal has an extended tweet on Sullivan

    Max and others have followed him around as he crashed BLM protests

    Here is the start of the tweet. If the link doesn’t work, use twitter max blumenthal and scroll down to the start

    https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1349577049053278208

    There are several video shots of Sullivan at the Capitol

    I am going to try using the left click to bring up the tweet. This works on some sites.

    https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1349577049053278208?s=20

    • harpie says:

      I think you may be right.
      The message Rudy meant to leave for Tuberville but left on Mike Lee’s phone instead, at 7PM on 1/6 [when they were going back to the floor]
      https://twitter.com/declanpgarvey/status/1347021060047335424
      10:23 PM · Jan 6, 2021:

      [RUDY:] “We need you, our Republican friends, to try to just slow it down so we can get these legislatures to get more information to you.”
      “If you could object to every state and, along with a congressman, get a hearing for every state, I know we would delay you a lot, but it would give us the opportunity to get the legislators who are very, very close to pulling their vote.”

      Here’s a link to the first article about it [the one from “the liberal Wisconsin Examiner” [lol]. They have a pdf of the letter there.

      These 15 state legislators asked Pence not to certify election results
      Does a “QAnon caucus” now control the Assembly elections committee?
      https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2021/01/14/these-15-state-legislators-asked-pence-not-to-certify-election-results/ 1/14/21

      • vicks says:

        I am not familiar with many of the names on the letter.
        Were any of them in a position to do anything but make noise in thier states?
        According to Rudy if they could stop the process he could just “send them back the questionable ones and they’ll fix them up”

        Here is the whole transcript of the voice mail
        https://thedispatch.com/p/giuliani-to-senator-try-to-just-slow

        “Senator Tuberville? Or I should say Coach Tuberville. This is Rudy Giuliani, the president’s lawyer. I’m calling you because I want to discuss with you how they’re trying to rush this hearing and how we need you, our Republican friends, to try to just slow it down so we can get these legislatures to get more information to you. And I know they’re reconvening at 8 tonight, but it … the only strategy we can follow is to object to numerous states and raise issues so that we get ourselves into tomorrow—ideally until the end of tomorrow.

        I know McConnell is doing everything he can to rush it, which is kind of a kick in the head because it’s one thing to oppose us, it’s another thing not to give us a fair opportunity to contest it. And he wants to try to get it down to only three states that we contest. But there are 10 states that we contest, not three. So if you could object to every state and, along with a congressman, get a hearing for every state, I know we would delay you a lot, but it would give us the opportunity to get the legislators who are very, very close to pulling their vote, particularly after what McConnell did today. It angered them, because they have written letters asking that you guys adjourn and send them back the questionable ones and they’ll fix them up.

        • milestogo says:

          It really sounded to me like he needed time for the insurrectionalists to complete a few murders of Democrat house members so the coup “plan” could be completed. Clearly an extreme reading but I see no other reason a delay would have helped them.

  9. Anomalous Cowherd says:

    I’m amazed by antifa’s opsec. They really embedded themselves – to the extent of growing grey hair and beer bellies.

    And goodness, I never knew that so many antifa were current or retired police and military. But there they were, flashing IDs to get the Capitol Police to let them in.

    • Montana Voter says:

      Spot on. But it reveals the power of the big lie in the digital age. The fanatics will grab on to this and morph it into a grand conspiracy like the Trump lie of Stop the Steal. It flies in the face of the facts, logic and essentially nature. But they still believe it because they need to have something to cling to. Of course, it is always “they” who are doing whatever is the cause celeb for that news cycle. Mental gymnastics is dangerous enough, without them being armed to the teeth with everything from mace and flagpoles to IED’s and semiautomatic weapons.

    • TooLoose LeTruck says:

      I agree w/ your take on antifa’s involvement w/ the festivities of the 6th…

      I live in the East Bay (Berkeley/Oakland) and have brushed up against the fringes of the antifa/anarchist crowd for decades… I’ve always seen antifa as an offshoot or splinter group from the anarchists and just way too disorganized, not to mention self-absorbed, to do anything like a deliberately pre-planned effort to infiltrate and embed in someone else’s movement or events.

  10. DSL says:

    One thing I can’t get off my mind that’s maybe sort of tangenitally related:

    In the days leading up to the insurrection, there were ‘quiet scream’ red headlines on Drudge (as opposed to the usual ‘loud scream’ headlines in giant font red and all caps) warning of Iranians threatening to fly into the Capitol building on Jan 6. At the time, it sure did seem convenient that these Iranians were planning an attack on such an important day. I get that it was the anniversary of the killing of one of their Generals, as ordered by Trump. Still, how incredible was it that whomever released that credible threat info to news outlets made that timely intel discovery!? I was sure that this was the possible event that was going to lead to congressional delays, martial law or some other Trumpian order.

    As I was watching the events on unfold on the 6th, I kept thinking how crazy things would get if that started happening as well. Not that I necessarily believed it would happen, but I was sure they’d need to try to find a way to make something happen…

      • BobCon says:

        It’s most likely general buzz in the GOP circles that surrounds her, and it’s a sign of how little she bothers to expose herself to independent news sources.

        I think one of the general weaknesses of members of Congress is their lack of ability to seek out and develop independent sources of information and analyze the prepackaged stuff they are fed, especially the buzz from colleagues.

        A big source of McConnell’s strength is that he doesn’t fall into that trap, There are more on the Democratic side like Warren and Porter who are also competent, but the majority of Dems are probably in the same boat.

        • Ken Muldrew says:

          Collin’s first thought on Jan 6 was that the Iranians were attacking. This is not a person with great situational awareness.

          • PhoneInducedPinkEye says:

            I absolutely do not buy that, she was well aware of the crowd of nazis lured by Trump. I think she was flexing her Iran hawk wings when she made that statement.

            • Ken Muldrew says:

              You’re right, of course. There is a perverse pleasure in accepting that these people are as stupid as they say they are, but it’s not helpful to indulge in such pleasures. The situation is much too serious for frivolity.

        • rip says:

          This would sync with the requirement that most (r) critters spend all their available time either sucking up to the powers, getting power lunched by the lobbyists, or robocalling people for donations. Not much time left of governing intelligently.

          • TooLoose LeTruck says:

            Nor any real interest or even ability to govern intelligently…

            I often find myself wondering, “Good god, how do people like Susan Collins manage to get themselves elected in the first place?”

            • arbusto says:

              Another way to look at it is why so many people vote for her and those of her ilk or even sketchier morals/mores.

      • John Paul Jones says:

        Senators get briefings on threats. Given the intelligence failures over the rioters, it’s likely that earlier briefings focussed on Iranians seeking revenge for Trump’s murder of Soleimani. That raises the possibility that Drudge’s reports were sourced by leaks from a senator or a staffer possibly under direction from a senator. In other words, Collins and Drudge share a common source.

        • DSL says:

          Well, I’m now realizing it was actually everywhere after a quick search (should have done this before). Given how the last 4 years have gone and how strategic misinfo seems to leak out from some official places, I just assumed this came from a Trumpy appointee somewhere. Here’s a CBS news headline from Jan 6 at 9am EST

          “Chilling threat sent to air traffic controllers vowing revenge for killing of Iranian general is under investigation”

          and from the story:

          “We are flying a plane into the Capitol on Wednesday. Soleimani will be avenged.”

        • subtropolis says:

          I take issue with the “intelligence failures” phrase that keeps coming up. This was something much more nefarious than a collective screw-up. Someone (can’t recall) pointed out that the March for Science with Bill Nye had far stricter security. Yet, every third person at 45’s rally, it seemed, had a large backpack. Many carried flags on stout poles. And where the hell did the lumber and tools with which to erect a frigging gallows come from?! There were 50 armed DHS agents on standby at the Ronald Reagan building, so somebody was being careful. However, they were kept from approaching the Capitol, in any case.

          Who was responsible for all these stand-downs?

          This wasn’t a mistake; it was by design. I think that the shocking absence of press conferences in the days afterwards was due to the fact that many of those who should have been speaking to the Press likewise know that something is very rotten in Washington. That’s not to say that they wished to cover everything up, but that they recognise that the situation is rather tenuous. A freaking coup d’état in the United States! I can only imagine the hushed conversations that have been happening in DC.

          And I sure cannot wait for the arrests.

          • Ginevra diBenci says:

            Those who do know and might speak up include FBI Director Chris Wray. I assume he is waiting until 20 January, after noon, when he can no longer be fired by Trump.

  11. Duke says:

    These folks have been well groomed to do their part as pawns. They have no clue as to what their real purpose is, or, if they do come with clue or foreknowledge are fully accepting of the likely outcome. People who volunteered to wear an explosive are prepared to become the sacrificial soldier for their cause.

    At some point, maybe we get to a time when people who are all in on the evil see who they have been serving. The broad inside nature of this operation has been unsurprising for people who have knowledge of military and law enforcement individuals. Combined with the hack of our government at large along with the previous dry runs over the course of the last 2 years, the terror operations are about to go into overdrive.

    The misinformation campaigns have been highly targeted and sufficiently aided by tech analysis and know-how. Behavior and beliefs can be predicted with tracking your metadata. We are in a surveillance society now. Private sector collected data analytics is being used by foreign and domestic enemies. Russia built alliances with religious, capitalist, antisocial, and political extremists. I shall not live long enough to see the changes one way or another.

  12. oomph cavilrest says:

    respectfully, i believe you are in error, above, where you write “The affidavit describes that, when outside the raid on the Capitol, Sullivan made anti-Trump comments,” and insert a blockquote from paragraph 12 of the affidavit. that paragraph, which appears in the “Background” section rather than the “Statement of Facts Supporting Probable Cause”, says “while attending a protest in Washington D.C., Sullivan can be seen telling a crowd…”

    by my read, this indicates the obtained video is from a different, earlier protest, against Trump, and not from the rally/insurrection. it was one of several points in that affidavit that struck this reader as superfluous to the charges at hand, and tending to be prejudicial.

    i have not examined the subject’s youtube postings to confirm this.

  13. harpie says:

    Joan Donovan [via Justin Hendrix]:
    https://twitter.com/BostonJoan/status/1350076990594932740
    8:46 AM · Jan 15, 2021

    [Siren emoji] ALERT There is a smear campaign linking John Sullivan to Black Lives Matter. The truth is that he’s been exiled from numerous local organizing groups beginning this summer. There is confirming evidence that predates his presence at the Capitol.

    He also goes by Jayden X and has numerous other accounts/identities. He switches them as he travels from city to city. There was a documentary being made about him, which seems to be how he ended up getting his livestream picked up by mainstream press. [..]

  14. anon says:

    This is likely the same James Sullivan who recruited Black Trump-supporters to travel to D.C. on January 6th.

    Kash is likely Kash Lee Kelly, a former member of the Latin Kings street gang, who has spoken at several GOP events, and was filmed in D.C. on January 6th at Capitol.

    Source: https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1350116103364730880?s=20

    [Welcome to emptywheel. Please use a more differentiated username when you comment next as we have several community members named “Anon,” “anon,” “anonymous,” so on. Thanks. /~Rayne]

  15. JamesJoyce says:

    “Nuremberged,”. American Style…

    Great Example here..:

    When the Reichstag was burnt this was an assault on a Republic’s fragile rule of law.

    What followed was pure dysfunctional discriminations and illegalities on a massive scale.

    It the instant case many citizens who assaulted the legislative branch and its constitutional responsibilities incited by a executive power addict will all, at least get to see a trier of fact or some due process, while hundreds of citizens accosted for petite infractions are dead and never ☝️ see a trier of fact, being dead before the fact or opportunity to have circumstances reviewed, by a system designed in theory to employ objective reasoning.

    Sound familiar folks?

    https://www.newsweek.com/robert-paxton-trump-fascist-1560652

    I find the MSM failure to cite the fire event Fromm 1933 mentioned above a miss…

    It was all about white supremacy, untenable impositions and your basic discrimination 101 leading inevitable fascist behavior.

    Water and gravity…

    A fire extinguisher, launched like a projectile by a “fire fighter” at “police officers” because he and others believe election was stolen, as some believed in;

    “BIG LIES,”

    hence, Nuremberg Laws were acceptable and justified?

    Some America needs to be reinoculated against fascist behavior, if they ever knew it was Fascist, in the first place, never mind the King’s Virus 🦠

    Reporters report the news and facts.

    Makes me think two Reuters Newsmen wasted in Iraq or Walter Scott shot in the back.

    Gleiwitz Incident was such a false flag event orchestrated by Muller’s under Heydrich-Himmler SS for the expressed purpose of creating fear and justifying invasion of Poland. WWII

    Derelicts…

    [FYI — link edited to remove tracking. /~Rayne]

    • Rayne says:

      Neither you nor Paxton mention the 1923 Beer Hall putsch. We do not know if the January 6 Capitol Building insurrection was the equivalent of the putsch or the Reichstag fire. Both serve as lessons to us, the putsch in particular warning that if white supremacist/nationalist groups fomenting insurrection are not dealt with effectively, they will rebound and with greater force. Dealing with these groups effectively will mean ripping apart their mythologies and making them less rewarding.

  16. Jenny says:

    Heath Mayo on Twitter: 12:00 AM · Jan 15, 2021·
    Listen to this entire interview from an officer who was assaulted at the Capitol.
    https://twitter.com/HeathMayo/status/1349944401179496449
    And
    Townhall’s Frontline Footage of Capitol Building Riots
    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzxvVi8wkrU&feature=emb_logo)
    And
    MSNBC on Twitter: 3:42 PM · Jan 14, 2021
    GOP Rep. Curtis shares concern for his safety after a “Wanted for Treason” flyer was taped to his office door.
    http://on.msnbc.com/3qq2o3R
    (Rep. Curtis clarifies flyer is in reference to not objecting to Electoral College vote, not the impeachment vote)
    https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1349819293576392706

  17. Molly Pitcher says:

    AG of Michigan is on Meet The Press right now saying the Texas AG was in DC at the insurrection, and that the national AG association was behind organizing buses to the event.

    • gmoke says:

      “The Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF), a 501(c)(4) arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), helped organize the protest preceding the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol that took place on January 6, 2021.”
      Source: https://documented.net/2021/01/republican-attorneys-general-dark-money-group-organized-protest-preceding-capitol-mob-attack/

      They did a robocall:
      “I’m calling for the Rule of Law Defense Fund with an important message,” the robocall stated. “The march to save America is tomorrow in Washington D.C. at the Ellipse in President’s Park between E St. and Constitution Avenue on the south side of the White House, with doors opening at 7:00 a.m. At 1:00 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on congress to stop the steal. We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections. For more information, visit MarchtoSaveAmerica.com. This call is paid for and authorized by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, 202-796-5838.”

      And were listed on the March to Save America website as a sponsoring organization.

      Ohh, the accused* Ken Paxton was at the insurrection? Tell me more.

      *for stock fraud

      • subtropolis says:

        The stock fraud charges are from a few years ago. He’s since moved on to bribery and abuse of office, for which his own leadership team ratted him out. FBI is investigating.

        • P J Evans says:

          He fired several of his staff who were involved (or who he thought were involved) and one more quit this month. It sounds like Paxton deserves much more investigation.

    • Rugger9 says:

      This highlights the problem of trying to reach out to the GOP, because which tentacle of the party should we engage with? The Q-anons, MAGAs, Proud Boys, 3%, Oath Keepers, so-called “principled” conservative that nonetheless voted in lockstep with DJT? McConnell? Who can be trusted?

      It’s a trick question because the answer is none of them. The conservatives have to heal themselves visibly first before we blues make nice.

    • P J Evans says:

      If he wants to go that way, he should have to provide that invitation: either written, or a phone record of that call. General statements in public don’t count.

      • Stacey says:

        I’m not sure we want to question the invitation to revolt against his own government that he says the president invited him to. Prosecutors will later want to keep that knot tied real tight. I hope Trump DOES try to pardon this guy because he said this argument, frankly, I think that would be helpful to prosecuting him for inciting the insurrection. This one dude’s pardon for his loyalty would be one of the least offensive pardons Trump has already made, a pawn I’d gladly sacrifice if it helped checkmate the king!

    • Jenny says:

      And
      ProPublica Reporter Calls For Vigilance of Far Right Groups
      With security at an all time high for President-elect Biden’s inauguration next week, the FBI is warning that armed far right protesters could hit cities across all 50 states. ProPublica reporter A. C. Thompson has been tracking far right movements for years. He tells Hari Sreenivasan which groups were at last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol and what to look out for in the future.
      https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/propublica-reporter-calls-for-vigilance-of-far-right-groups/

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      LOL. Angeli’s lawyer must have skipped high school English. The course of true love never did run smooth. The pavement is littered with people who demand that the object of their desire return their love, only to be disappointed. Trump is a poster child for those who piss on aspirants to their grace and favor.

      That that’s how it works might fuel society’s woes and fill therapists’ chairs and library shelves. But it is not a legitimate argument for a presidential pardon – or any other kind. Learning such things is called growing up, something that neither Trump nor his followers has ever done.

    • Fran of the North says:

      Hmmm.

      The guy who is organic food eating, peyote ingesting shaman dressed in a an animal hide wants a pardon from a guy who punched his own son for not wearing a tie to the ballgame?

      Might be a long putt from the rattlesnake infested rough to THAT hole.

    • harpie says:

      CHANSLEY was REPORTED TO CAPITOL POLICE on December 14!!!!
      [Via nycsouthpaw]

      https://twitter.com/mcbyrne/status/1350137671084089345
      12:47 PM · Jan 15, 2021

      I am exceedingly livid that I reported this asshole to the USCP on 12/14 for carrying a weapon on Capitol Grounds and was told “higher ups” okay’d him being there. I am seething. Imagine if he would have been arrested and investigated.

      • harpie says:

        Senate Sargent at Arms? Congress Sargent at Arms? [both resigned now]
        CP Chief? [Resigned]
        A Senator or Representative?
        ???

        • blueedredcounty says:

          Does anyone know if his representative is Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, or someone else? Or was he seeing a lame duck senator?

          • harpie says:

            According to the HuffPo article, he’s from Phoenix, and [as far as I can tell from Wiki], where there are 2 Dems [Gallego and Stanton] as Reps.

            • bmaz says:

              Not sure, but my guess is he is either in Biggs’ or Lesko’s district.

              But we also have Dems Ann Kirkpatrick, Tom O’Halleran and Raul Grijalva statewide. Greg Stanton is my Rep. By 5-4, AZ is a Dem state as to the House, not to mention two Dem Senators now. Progress is slow.

    • Rayne says:

      Personally I wouldn’t put the word revolution anywhere near the acts of these rebellious insurrectionists and seditionists. Being white they still hold majority of power in this country and majority in numbers; this system of governance was written by and for their kind, suppressing persons of color.

      It’s not a revolution when they find their system written and executed by and for their kind no longer works to disenfranchise non-whites — it’s a goddamned temper tantrum by spoiled, excessively entitled brats who couldn’t be bothered to do the work of developing a message and policy, organizing and getting out the vote to support their position at the polls.

      They’re not revolutionaries. They’re fucking lazy-assed criminals who betrayed their country.

      • Molly Pitcher says:

        I agree with you completely. I was mostly thinking of the fact that times have changed with everything now on people’s cell phones, the insurrection is televised.

        I also think that the people who were outraged by the events in the song are now the jackasses fomenting the insurrection themselves.

        Having grown up in Berkeley, I had an up close and personal views of a lot of historical events.

        • Chris.EL says:

          Like Louise — I’ve vowed to veer around Texas + Idaho too. Seems like Oregon should be added to the list.

          Ever since learning that Mark Fuhrman moved to Idaho (after leaving LAPD (Simpson trial)) I concluded there must be more of his ilke (white supremacists/racists) where he made his new home.

          Texas? Well, spent a semester there during college; that was enough.

          Berkeley riots were worlds away ~1968 but the photos of the National Guardsmen sleeping on marble floors of Congress were nearly identical to Guardsmen sleeping on wood floors of our high school gym in Alameda!!!

          It’s deja vu all over again!
          ~~~~~~~~
          wilting all the fragrant flowers in our hair…

          • P J Evans says:

            You’re most likely safe if you stick to the main highways and stay in brand-name motels in cities.

          • Stacey says:

            You mentioned “Ever since learning that Mark Fuhrman moved to Idaho (after leaving LAPD (Simpson trial) I concluded there must be more of his ilk (white supremacists/racists) where he made his new home.”

            Yes, in fact, there ARE! I lived in Spokane, WA. for 6 years between 1999-2005 directly after living in the Bay Area of CA for 4 years. Yeah, whiplash, to be sure!

            I had NO IDEA what the hell the deal was with this area that I quickly discovered was crawling with white supremacists. Investigation found that many years ago many of these characters had made a conscious decision to leave the south in particular, and go to some place new that was ‘pristine’ and that they could own fully and build their bases of operations in peace. North Idaho and parts of Spokane, Hayden Lake area, etc. are like a little Afghanistan of these white supremacists that we are now witnessing a coming out party for! This is going to get real ugly real quick!

            For very understandable reasons the Obama Admin made decisions at various points in not coming after these Ammon Bundy types BECAUSE of Waco, etc. and the optics of that. And to be sure, shooting white guys is just not the same as shooting black guys in America, so there’s that. But the unintended consequence also was that these people have never been told/shown that their behavior will EVER be met with force. The only people NOT surprised with how little resistance they met Wednesday was THEM!

            Merrick Garland was very involved in the prosecution of Timothy McVey who was up to his eyeballs in this movement and I am praying Garland learned the RIGHT lessons from all of that, and not the wrong ones. There will be consequences for coming down hard on these asshats, but not doing so, will have, I believe, WORSE consequences in the long run. This is a cross-roads we will not be graced with again, make good decisions, people in power!

    • Max404 says:

      I thought I was the last person alive to listen to Gil Scott Heron. I even have this track on my playlist at work.

      • vvv says:

        And, this one *was* televised, at first on twitter, but now on the nat’l news.

        But that was a cheap pun; as Rayne says, it was an insurrection, which is different, and I believe much worse here.

  18. Jenny says:

    Woman documented her entire trip to DC and then was arrested. How to transform one’s life in one day. A Texas real estate broker and life coach with a life coaching business called SelfLoveU.

    Texas Real Estate Agent Who Took Private Jet to Capitol Riot Is Arrested
    Texas broker and life coach Jenna Ryan boasted about “answering [Trump’s] call” to head to the Capitol.
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/jenna-ryan-texas-real-estate-agent-who-flew-to-dc-on-private-jet-arrested-in-capitol-riots

    • P J Evans says:

      Even included her including a pitch for her own business, where she gave her name.
      People with plenty of dollars, but short of sense.

      • Jenny says:

        A walking advertisement for business and personal information.

        Personal selfies and videos have taken on a whole new meaning when rioting and violently attacking the Capitol:
        Hi Mom! Inside the Capitol where I committed a crime answering Trump’s call. One of the best days of my life.

  19. Raven Eye says:

    This concerns me a little…From Politico’s Playbook PM:

    ‘ NEWS … Speaker NANCY PELOSI told reporters at a news conference this morning that she has asked retired Lt. Gen. RUSSEL HONORÉ — who was commander of Joint Task Force Katrina — “to lead an immediate review of security infrastructure, interagency processes and command and control,” following the Capitol riots last week. She also said there is “strong interest” in an external 9/11-type commission to “conduct an after-action review.” ‘

    Honore’s record during Katrina is a bit of a concern. He went in with a swagger and decided that anyone wearing BDU’s, whether Army or National Guard, was working for him. That’s not the kind of statement that would come from someone who understood federal roles during an emergency, or from someone who was taking advice from staff that knew how the system worked.

    There was plenty wrong with the federal response to Katrina, but I’m not sure that the Honore’s benefit:cost ratio was particularly impressive. If he’s the best that Pelosi could come up with…

    • Molly Pitcher says:

      Watching the press conference where she announced his involvement, I came away with the feeling that she saw him as someone she could trust when she wasn’t sure who is involved with the insurrection in the government. This tells me that she thinks that the obstruction of the additional assistance was blocked up high and deliberately, and she doesn’t know whom she can trust.

      Ayanna Pressley said the same about the Capitol Police who came to move her and her staff to a safer location. Her first thought was were they actually going to take them out and kill them? Considering she had just discovered that all of their panic buttons had been removed, her fear is understandable.

    • subtropolis says:

      I’m with Molly on this. Pelosi reached out to someone outside of government whom she could trust. Honoré was interviewed shortly after the siege, during which he all but declared that this was a coup attempt and that something stinks at the Pentagon. He had to mention that he is still subject to the UCMJ, and so has to watch what he says, but it was clear enough. I trust him.

      I’m not familiar with what you are complaining about wrt Katrina. Could it be that he’d had to throw his weight around because the government response had been such a monumental cock-up?

  20. greengiant says:

    Just a short tweet thread on GOP and trolls in basements making antifa and anarchists the fake enemy to rile their base.
    https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1349859970892742657 from Robert Evans at bellingcat.
    The GOP county chair is defending sometimes Proud Boy Joey Gibson in a civil suit for example.
    https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/07/05/chair-of-the-multnomah-county-republicans-will-represent-patriot-prayer-leader-in-civil-lawsuit/

    Over 1,000 arrests in Portland Oregon this summer. About 900 dismissed for being bogus like resisting arrest or assaulting an officer while walking away. Never seen an image of George Floyd protestors anywhere taking a barricade in hand and assaulting officers. Over 100 serious eye injuries suffered nationwide from police action. The Jan 6th mob has yet to pay a similar price. The cult is pissed that their fake reality is challenged and they can’t get their daily dose of Trump’s lies.

    • P J Evans says:

      The cops were definitely kinder to this lot, even as they assembled – and it was a much larger crowd, I think, than the BLM protests.

  21. CD54 says:

    Agree with Rayne at 1:53 pm.

    Now with new DOJ (presumably de-Nazified) all of the on-line right wing dialogue can be investigated as conspiracy and illegal weapons charges.

    The recent report about the total lack of any right wing domestic terrorism investigation within the FBI under Trump has given these people sloppy, entitled on-line habits. Easy pickens.

    “Your MAGA hat won’t get you outta prison anymore!” (Trump killed John Prine.)

    • Lawnboy says:

      Molly/Rayne:
      Perfectly said.
      The only ones missing in that mob….”The Trailer Park Boys”.

      CD54: You could also mention JP’s buddy, Steve Goodman. A great artist cut from the same cloth.

  22. harpie says:

    https://twitter.com/bradheath/status/1350158211253489665
    2:09 PM · Jan 15, 2021

    DOJ in Washington is trying to walk back prosecutors’ allegation that rioters planed to “capture and assassinate” officials, saying it has no “direct evidence of kill capture teams.” The U.S. Attorney’s office in Arizona says it will amend its filing.

    U.S. now says no evidence of ‘kill capture teams’ at U.S. Capitol
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-capitol-arrests/u-s-says-capitol-rioters-meant-to-capture-and-assassinate-officials-filing-idUSKBN29K0K7
    JANUARY 15, 20211:17 AM UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

    Look at the difference between the amended headline and the url.

    • harpie says:

      Kyle Cheney explains it this way:
      https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1350178247062020096
      3:29 PM · Jan 15, 2021

      NEW: Federal Prosecutors are walking back a claim that the Capitol insurrectionists had a “capture-and-kill” plan for Pence and lawmakers. There’s no “direct evidence,” they say, despite a Thursday filing describing “strong” evidence.

      This doesn’t preclude new and alarming details from comign out — however the evidence isn’t developed to make this assertion. And they’ve foreshadowed more alarming evidence, including of possible seditious conspiracy, to come.

    • FL Resister says:

      Bannon may be working off his pardon, talking to Trump when he’s not deconstructing the administrative state.

    • Ken Muldrew says:

      The Stringer Bell rule is violated once again. Perhaps we should also have a “my pillow guy” rule about not displaying your notes of a “criminal fucking conspiracy” to photographers.

    • Molly Pitcher says:

      This is the notes of a take-over of the Government that is being planned right now. If those pictures were actually taken today.

      I would hope that he has shared this with the Speaker. He could not risk showing this to anyone else .

    • harpie says:

      The transcription seems as good as possible.
      Please let me know of any typo’s on my part.

      7 NOW as Acting National Security
      8 him with getting the evidence of ALL the
      9 as the election and all information regarding
      10 people he knows who already have security
      11 done massive research on these issues
      12 Fort Mead. He is an attorney with Cyber-
      13 and is up to speed on election issues.
      14
      15 [insurrection?] Act now as a result of the assault on the
      16 marial law if necessary upon the first hint of any
      17
      18
      19 Sidney Powell, Bill Olsen, Kurt Olsen.
      20 Move Kash Patel to CIA Acting.
      21
      22 up Foreign Interference in the election. Trigger
      23 powers. Make clear this is China/Iran
      24 used domestic actors. Instruct Frank
      25 evidence on [—–] the [—-]broad
      26 account [————–]-ary
      27 the line [—————] evidence
      28 caus [——————-] attorney

      • Mwwa says:

        In Line 7, the name before NOW appears to be Frank Colon; line 12 might be “is at Fort Mead.; line 16 is martial; the first word in line 20 appears to be DOD; line 22 looks like “on Foreign Interference”

        There is a Frank Colon at Fort Meade. I wouldn’t want to be him right now. MyPillowGuy seems to be suggesting a shuffling of the acting officials to put loyalists in the proper positions.

      • P J Evans says:

        Reading at the curve of the page:
        25 collect evidence
        26 [and] likely account[s]
        27 down the line
        28 probable cause

        Bracketed stuff is mine

        • Eureka says:

          I don’t know what to make of this. Part of it is that Lindell is very hooked in with the Flynns*. That on top of reading Marcy’s encyclopedic post on the Flynn 302s has some not-sugarplums dancing through my head. What are they getting Trump to do and why?

          *Not unrelated aside, Flynn Jr. used to talk on Parler like he was the boss of Trump (Friday before last when they started to deplatform them, Jr posted a kind of humiliating comment about Trump, like Trump was just _their_ useful idiot).

    • harpie says:

      As Josh Marshall says:
      https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1350195844662882304
      4:39 PM · Jan 15, 2021

      It appears to be a completely solid headline that on his last Friday in office the President is planning a new coup plot in league with the MyPillow guy from the commercials. This is neither parody nor hyperbole.

      On his last Friday in office the President is planning a new coup plot
      Takes an Oval Office visit with the MyPillow guy from the commercials.
      January 15, 2021
      [write the story]

  23. Molly Pitcher says:

    I hope someone here has contacts inside the intelligence community that they actually can trust. I worry that the FBI cannot be trusted.

    I am going to be really pissed if that idiot My Pillow Guy brings down this country.

    • Raven Eye says:

      Maybe it’s not at all what we’ve been speculating about. Maybe the MyPillow guy is just helping Trump prepare for a…

      (wait for it)

      …soft landing?

  24. PeterS says:

    “the President is planning a new coup plot in league with the MyPillow guy”

    I’m not sure that “planning” is a synonym for “fantasizing about”. There are no longer any adults in the room but I tend to think they’re waiting just outside the door.

  25. Raven Eye says:

    A friend wondered why, if Mr. MyPillow is such a great guy, he didn’t send in a bunch of MyPillows to the National Guard troops who were crashed on the Capitol floor?

    • Chris.EL says:

      Agree — I can’t imagine spending five minutes on a marble floor — SUCKS your body heat right out of you!

      Looked at J.O.B. twitter for insight — nothing, but it’s not a discreet forum, is it? Somewhere else, notes on Marine; leads me to believe pil-low-guy was a wannabe with big ideas, arriving late at party — Trump skedaddled — F-ing Florida, here I come!
      ~~~~~~~~~
      Never trust a man who does not love pets. No capacity for love.
      ~~~~~~~~
      Just discovered DVD of Argo – 1979 Riot in Iran, overtaking U.S.Embassy, hostages, Canada helped U.S. etc. – Ben Affleck film — corny right, but illustrates *the terror* of being trapped and people are coming for you!
      ~~~~~~~~
      Also how political decisions impact the future for — who knows how long. These cultures have been here for long periods.

        • Ginevra diBenci says:

          Never trust a man who does not love anyone.
          And don’t say “Except himself.” If he loved himself, he wouldn’t have turned into a black hole sucking all else into the vacuum in his heart. Our task is keeping ourselves, each other and the nation beyond the event horizon.

  26. Molly Pitcher says:

    https://www.axios.com/kash-patel-cia-gina-haspel-757b92c0-82a5-457b-bde8-d0d683ee222e.html

    From Axios: Scoop: Gina Haspel threatened to resign over plan to install Kash Patel as CIA deputy

    ” In early December… President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy, according to three senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter.”

    “The revelation stunned national security officials and almost blew up the leadership of the world’s most powerful spy agency. Only a series of coincidences — and last minute interventions from Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — stopped it.”

    The rest of this piece lays out the chronology of Kash Patel, Trump and Haspel leading to the My Pillow Guy.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Makes one wonder who the hell is Patel’s patron that they can force him into so many high level positions, for which he lacks the slightest experience or talent – at tremendous cost to the country. He is a gofer for one helluva someone.

      • Ginevra diBenci says:

        Obvious patron is Devin Nunez, but that simply raises the question of who is sponsoring both. I’m guessing the answer lies among the Koch/Prince/Mercer et. al. oligarchy that runs GOP politics.
        Thanks, Molly P, for the Axios link. Fascinating read. Jonathan Swan has done some great reporting during the Trump era–and that’s aside from the access Trump granted him (I believe) mainly due to his accent. DJT has always sucked up to anything he thinks is “high class.”

  27. skua says:

    Over at fivethirtyeight Trump’s approval rating remains a schreeching alarm.
    He is still within 10% of his peak rating from Feb 2017 onwards.
    He hasn’t even got down to his lowest rating in that period (Dec 2017 after Flynn pleaded guilty).

    A very public demonstration, aimed at his base, that he is a weak man with nothing worthwhile to offer anyone could be made from a clinically conducted impeachment.
    Something along the lines of impassive people cleaning dog crap off a shoe and immediately getting on with the important stuff in life would work. Low emotion, just taking out the trash, has to be done but isn’t anything to get excited about.

  28. AndTheSlithyToves says:

    IMVHO, Pence has promised someone in power that, like our old pal Rod Rosenstein, “he can land the Trump Plane” without crashing the country. I’ll believe it when I see it.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      That’s Mikey, a hand-puppet for the most powerful conservative in the room. He is fundamentalist water looking for a vessel to give him shape and purpose, and so Mother won’t yell at him. And “land the plane,” means that he and they walk away from it, never mind how many passengers don’t.

  29. paulxu says:

    Marcy
    I don’t expect you read this far down in the comments with all you have going on.
    But I hope you are enjoying Ireland, and I love Galway having visited recently. It’s not too far from our cousins on Kerry Head.
    Just a quick question: do you expect the people you follow through the various investigations (Mueller report, Flynn, Stone, etc.) will ever be brought to justice with a new DOJ head coming on board? Or will all fade from sight and interest.
    Take care over there and thanks for all you do to keep us informed.

  30. John Langston says:

    Late to the thread, a couple of observations:

    1. Anyone that broke into the Capitol claiming to be press will have the burden to prove it. I’m sure we’ll hear lots of advocates, tourists, youtubist and anyone with a cell video making claims to keep them from jail. Next, I expect the lady from Dallas whining for a pardon to claim she was only videoing an ad for her real estate business. If you’re not a credentialed journalist, you’ll probably have to convince a jury and yell “first amendment” louder than Ethel Merman. So far as Rudy goes, he can get his “Atifa scalp”, really, who cares?

    2. Regarding Trump’s culpability. Well, for anyone that couldn’t believe their own eyes and ears we can always look for additional facts. And BTW- the longer that Nancy holds the articles, the more damning evidence will come in, not the opposite. Certainly investigators will look into Trump’s and the administration’s actions before and after the insurrection: what actions were incompetent vs those that were willful. Certainly his actions during and after the riot make him look guilty as hell. He ain’t gonna look more innocent in a couple of months.

    One more tidbit I saw from Greg Palast. The rally organizers never asked for a parade permit, just a permit for the rally. Trump himself told the rioters to march and even said he’d be with them. That is pretty damning in and of itself and makes Trump culpable. Not to mention that failure getting a permit to march was another reason that law enforcement didn’t have resources and failed to plan. And also goes to Trump’s premeditation.

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